September

Newcastle named best university for student experience in the North East

Newcastle University has the most satisfied students in the region, according to The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2016.

The 88.4% score cements Newcastle University amongst the top institutions for student satisfaction in the UK, following the 91% overall student satisfaction result achieved in this year’s National Student Survey.

Professor Suzanne Cholerton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University, said: “This is great news and a credit to our staff whose excellent academic and personal support ensures our students get the most from their time living and studying here.

“The Sunday Times Good University Guide score shows that our continuous investment in improving facilities on campus and teaching standards makes a difference and enables us to offer an outstanding student experience.”

The Sunday Times notes that Newcastle University was among the first in its peer group to mount big programmes to attract more candidates from non-traditional backgrounds. The University exceeds its target recruitment level for students from areas of low participation in higher education. It leads a national scheme to promote fair access to higher education and its PARTNERS programme, which helps eligible students in the region to gain entry, is being opened up to all schools and colleges in England.

The university is also in the top 20 for graduate prospects and heavily targeted by leading graduate employers. It also registers high levels of satisfaction among both British and international students.

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2016 is made up of nine indicators including student satisfaction with teaching quality and their wider university experience, research quality, graduate prospects, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, student/staff ratios, service and facilities spend, and degree completion rates.

The guide also mentions the University's research strengths, indicating that almost 80% of the research entered for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent. Neuroscience, English and computing science were rated as leading departments in the UK.